IF CARL Fogarty had asked Frankie Chili to do him a favour exactly one year ago, the reply would have been spicier than the hottest chilli pepper.

The Italian was all set to poop the party by taking both race wins at Foggy's favourite track of Assen, Holland.

The two were locked in a titanic battle approaching the final Rumshoek twists when Chili pushed too hard and leather carressed dirt.

His response was less than cool, calm and considered and Fogarty rose to the challenge.

The world champ smoked his tyres in a gesture of defiance and aggression as Chili manfully attempted to demonstrate his emotions more physically.

One year on, the two riders are back on speaking terms and Chili could prove to be a highly unlikely ally in Fogarty's quest for a fourth world title.

The 35-year-old from Bologna is on fire and would have won both races in the rain of Austria last week had he not needlessly crashed out on lap 12 of race one.

And Chili, who left Ducati last year to race for Suzuki, is the type of rider that the twisty and fast Assen circuit suits.

So Fogarty expects him to do well - and is not too worried by the prospect as Chili is a massive 178 points behind the championship leader. He is more concerned with maintaining a healthy advantage going into the penultimate round at Hockenheim next week, when Fogarty could and should be crowned World Superbike Champion for 1999.

"I think someone like Chili is going to go very fast, so I might have to let him go.

"That will be hard but it could be a good thing as it would stop other people getting points.

"Frankie winning race two in Austria was good for the championship.

"It's great to see another rider winning and it's also good to see another manufacturer up there.

"Frankie knows what he is doing at Assen so he is going to be a real threat.

"I know what I have to do and that's beat Colin Edwards and Troy Corser. Now it's the championship that is the most important thing but I would like to win at Assen, as I haven't won since Misano.

"There will be 30,000 British fans - I don't know how they all get over there. It's like a home race for me," said Fogarty.

The Blackburn rider is the undisputed king of Assen, having won no less than 10 out of the last 12 races, including an amazing eight on the bounce.

The 3.76 mile circuit, about 200km north of Amsterdam, was built for Fogarty to capitalise on his unique cornering skills. He said: "Lots of riders have very different strengths and one of my stengths is carrying speed into the corners.

"Assen is all about carrying speed into the corners." Theoretically, the Ducatis of Fogarty and Corser should have the beating of their Castrol Honda rivals.

Edwards is the man in form but is not a fan of Assen and his eighth place in race two at the A1-Ring last Sunday has left him with a 63 point mountain to climb.

A repeat of the wet weater could even things out but Fogarty has been lucky in Holland in the past.

"We have been very lucky with the weather there. It has always rained on the Friday or Saturday but we have always got away with it on Sunday," he added.

"If I have a fault it's that I go into championship mode when it's wet, like last weekend.

"The thought of winning races goes out the window and you just take what you can get.

"If I can be criticised for that, then I'm happy to accept it."

Championship points after 10 of 13 rounds: 1 Fogarty 363, 2 Corser 302, 3 Edwards 301, 4 Slight 252, 5 Akira Yanagawa, Japan (Kawasaki) 215, 6 Chili 185, 7 Haga 144, 8 Lavilla 120, 9 Katsuaki Fujiwara, Japan (Kawasaki) 96, 10 Guareschi 86.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.